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Informist, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Equity Alert: Nifty 50 seen consolidating next wk; Dec quarter earnings eyed

MUMBAI--1705 IST--The Nifty 50 is expected to consolidate next week, with the market sentiment remaining weak. Geopolitical developments are expected to continue to influence broader market trends, and December-quarter results and management commentary from companies will drive stock-specific movements, according to analysts. In the short term, sentiment is likely to remain weak, with the potential for further downside.

The 50-stock index settled at 25694.35 points, up 28.75 points or 0.1%. The BSE Sensex ended at 83570.35 points, up 187.64 points or 0.2%. The Nifty 50 index shed most of its gains on profit booking towards the close, which capped the rally, Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said in a note. 

Support for Nifty 50 is seen at 25600-25550 points, and if it breaches that level, the index may correct further, Bhuva said. The analyst sees the index's resistance at 25,835 points.

Markets are expected to trade sideways in the near term, with stock-specific action driven by earnings and trade-related developments, while any geopolitical escalations will remain a key risk factor, Siddhartha Khemka, head of research, wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said. 

The rupee weakness may also weigh on stocks. Friday, the rupee ended sharply lower against the dollar, posting its biggest single-day fall in nearly two months, dealers said. The weakness in the rupee is attributable to uncertainty over the India–US trade deal, Jateen Trivedi, vice-president research analyst, commodity and currency at LKP Securities, said.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Nifty 50 Jan ends at premium of 55.05 points to spot index

MUMBAI--1700 IST--The January futures contract of the Nifty 50 closed at a premium of 55.05 points to the spot index. Open interest in the contract fell 1% to 16.87 million, according to provisional data.

--Nifty 50 closed at 25694.35 points, up 28.75 points or 0.1% vs Wed

--Nifty 50 January closed at 25749.40 points, up 30.40 points or 0.1% vs Wed

Nifty 50 options, expiring Tuesday, with maximum change in open interest:

Call: 25900, Put: 25700

Nifty 50 options, expiring Tuesday, with maximum open interest:

Call: 26000, Put: 25700

(Gopika Balasubramanium)

Equity Alert: Mkts end up on gains in IT cos; pharma, heavyweights cap rise

MUMBAI--1540 IST--Benchmark equity indices closed slightly higher Friday after falling for two consecutive sessions, primarily because of gains in information technology stocks. However, the Nifty 50 index closed 179.15 points lower than its intraday peak as select heavyweights dragged it down. The 50-stock index was unable to decisively breach its immediate resistance of 25850 points. Around 41% of the 3,271 stocks traded on the NSE ended higher.

The Nifty 50 settled at 25694.35 points, up 28.75 points or 0.1%. The BSE Sensex ended at 83570.31 points, up 187.64 points or 0.2%. Shares of Tech Mahindra closed over 5% higher ahead of detailing its December quarter earnings. Shares of Infosys were up nearly 6% after most brokerages retained their respective 'buy' rating on the stock and kept their target prices unchanged after the company's December quarter numbers. Brokerages are bullish on the company's positive outlook for the coming financial year and see the rise in in revenue guidance positively. Shares of Wipro closed almost 3% higher ahead of its December quarter earnings. Both Wipro and Tech Mahindra announced their Oct-Dec results post market hours.

The Nifty IT index closed over 3% higher with all its constituents in the green. Shares of fast-moving consumer goods companies Eternal and ITC were down 2-4% and were the biggest drag on the 50-stock index. Index heavyweights ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel also put pressure on indices and were down 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. HDFC Bank closed 0.6% higher, while Reliance Industries gave up its intraday gains to close marginally lower.

Shares of most pharmaceutical companies ended lower. Shares of Cipla ended over 2% lower after production of one of the company's key drugs, Lanreotide injection, was paused by its supply partner Pharmathen International. Owing to supply disruption in Lanreotide, the decline in volumes of generic Revlimid, and sharper competition in the US, brokerage Nuvama downgraded the stock to 'reduce' from 'hold' and cut its target price on the stock by 21%. Other pharmaceutical companies, such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories were down 2% and 1%, respectively. The Nifty Pharma and the Nifty Healthcare index ended over 1% lower each.

Among other stocks, 360 ONE WAM closed over 4% higher after the asset management company reported a 51% on-year surge in its revenue for the December quarter. This is the highest growth in the company's top line in five quarters. Federal Bank closed almost 10% higher after the company said its net profit rose nearly 9%, both on year and on quarter, to INR 10.41 billion for the December quarter, slighly higher than estimates.

Meanwhile, HBL Engineering closed over 9% lower. The company disclosed that it failed to secure a large Kavach tender for locomotive safety systems and added that the total Kavach locomotive demand that was visible for the current year has reduced to 12,129 units from 18,429 units earlier, following the outcome of the tender. (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: European indices lower, mkts analyse geopolitical tensions

MUMBAI--1515 IST--European indices opened lower during the session Friday. Investors continued to monitor the geoploitical developments with talks between the US, Denmark, and Greenlad unable to provide a breakthrough. Shares of chip-making companies rose during the session, limiting some of the declines seen by the region. France postponed its budget hearing as lawmakers are unable to reach a compromise.

Troops of Europe came to Greenland late Thursday as US President Donald Trump pushed for the annexation of the mineral rich island, CNBC reported. A meeting between the officials of US, Denmark, and Greenland ended without a breakthrough. However, the officials have agreed to continue their dialogue on the issue.

France's government pushed the parliamentary talks on its 2026 budget to Tuesday as lawmakers failed to reach a compromise, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu has an option to invoke article 49.3 of the constitution to push the bill and bypass parliament. This would, however, risk a no confidence motion against the government. However, the prime minister has vowed not to do that and said he wished for parliament to come to an agreement. This would involve him having to broker a compromise between ideologically opposed hard-left France Unbowed or LFI and the far-right National Rally or RN, Reuters said. "The extremes have methodically voted for amendments to make the budget unvotable," Budget Minister Amelie de Montchalin was quoted as saying by Reuters based on her interview on France 2 TV Friday. Another alternative Lecornu has is to invoke article 47, which is an executive order allowing the government to pass the budget without parliamentary approval and which would make the bill a definitive law, even if a vote of no confidence happens to topple the government, Reuters said.

Shares of semiconductor stocks rose due to the optimism stemming from the positive results of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., CNBC reported. Shares of Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML Holding rose over 5% during the session. Share price of Equinor ASA were higher during the session; the company got clearance from the District of Columbia judge in the US to resume work on its Empire Wind project. This comes days after the same district permitted Orsted to resume work on its nearly-finished Revolution Wind project, CNBC said. 

Following were the levels of major European indices at 1454 IST:

(Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: Leela Palaces shares rise after Q3 net profit triples on year

MUMBAI--1500 IST--Shares of Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts rose over 4% to a three-month high of INR 471, after the company's consolidated net profit nearly tripled on year in Oct-Dec. However, the stock retreated from the high and slipped into the red. At 1457 IST, shares of the company were at INR 446.95, down 1.2%. Around 2.3 million shares of the company changed hands on the bourse so far Friday, nearly six times higher than the 390,536 shares of shares traded till the same time Wednesday.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts reported a nearly 162% on-year jump in its consolidated net profit for the December quarter to INR 1.48 billion. The consolidated revenue of the company rose over 23% on year to INR 4.57 billion. A sharp fall in finance costs by over 66% on year to INR 394.45 million helped the company to post a robust bottom line.  (Adhithya Aji)

Equity Alert: Indices in Asia mixed; investors monitor US-Taiwan deal

MUMBAI--1409 IST--Equity indices in Asia were mixed at the market closing as investors continued to monitor developments around the US-Taiwan deal and the rising geopolitical tension in Iran. The US and Taiwan have reached a trade agreement under which companies on the East Asian island will invest in the former's chipmaking industry in exchange for lower reciprocal tariffs.

Shares in Hong Kong fell after the recent highs despite the earnings outlook from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which helped to strengthen confidence in the artificial intelligence sector and increase global risk appetite, according to a report from the South China Morning Post. A fall in shares of Labubu maker Pop Mart International Group, down nearly 6%, and the decline in stocks of Kuaishou Technology and Baidu, down 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively, limited the gains.

Stocks in the region are going through profit-taking pressure in the short term, Dickie Wong, executive director of research at Usmart Securities, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post. The move by Chinese authorities to restore margin financing requirement to 100%, along with targeted rate cuts, signal policy changes aimed at cooling an overheated equity market and supporting the real economy through monetary easing, the analyst added.

US Presdient Donald Trump has also adopted a wait-and-see posture towards the unrest in Iran after previously threatening to intervene, Reuters reported. Trump said he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions by the authorities in Iran and had been told the crackdown on protests was easing. This prompted oil prices, along with those of gold and silver, to fall.

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 1413 IST:

(Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: Shriram Finance rises 4% Fri; gains for 3rd straight session

MUMBAI--1325 IST--Shares of Shriram Finance rose for the third consecutive session and were up over 4%. The stock rose to a two-week high of INR 1,022. At 1322 IST, the stock of the company traded 2.2% higher at INR 1,002.90 and it was among the top gainers in the Nifty 50.

The company Friday said its board will mull raising funds through debt securities on Jan. 23. This may include redeemable non-convertible debentures, or bonds, on a private placement basis or public issue.

Thursday, international ratings agency S&P Global Ratings upgraded its long-term credit rating on the finance company to 'BBB-' from 'BB+' with a 'stable' outlook. It has also raised the short-term credit rating on the company to 'A-3' from 'B'. S&P also upgraded the rating on the company's senior secured debt to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'.

Earlier in the week, the finance company's shareholders had approved the proposed investment of INR 396.18 billion by MUFG Bank Ltd. in the company through a preferential issue of equity shares to the Japan-based financial conglomerate. In December, MUFG Bank had announced its decision to acquire a 20% stake in Shriram Finance. This fund infusion is expected to significantly enhance Shriram Finance's capital adequacy, strengthen its balance sheet, and provide long-term growth capital, the company had said earlier.

All 12 research reports on the company available with Informist have a 'buy' or equivalent recommendation on the stock with the highest target price of INR 1,225. This implies a near-25% upside to the stock's previous close on Wednesday. The stock is near the average target price of these brokerages of INR 1,023. Friday, over 9 million shares of the company changed hands on the NSE, sharply higher than nearly 2 million shares traded during the same period Wednesday.  (Simran Rede)

Equity Alert: Indices off highs as RIL, ICICI Bk declines; Infosys up 5%

MUMBAI--1305 IST--Indices came off highs, owing to a decline in shares of heavyweights, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. Indices remained higher buoyed by gains in information technology and financial services stocks. The heavyweight HDFC Bank rose nearly 1%, while shares of IT major Infosys rose over 5%, contributing to the gains in the Nifty 50 index.

At 1302 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25738.10 points, up 72.50 points or 0.3%, and the BSE Sensex was at 83692.01 points, up 309.30 points or 0.4%. 

Infosys was the top gainer in the 50-stock index, followed by IT majors such as Tech Mahindra, which rose nearly 5% and Wipro, which rose over 3%. Banking and financial services stocks such as Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, and SBI Life Insurance Co. were up 1-2%. Cipla was the worst hit in the index, down nearly 3%, on account of the pause in the production of Lanreotide injection by its supply partner, Pharmathen International.

Shares of Eternal, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Bharat Electronics, and Maruti Suzuki India were down almost 2% each. The stock of HDFC Life Insurance Co. was down over 1% after the company reported a flat bottom line growth for the December quarter. The life insurance company reported a net profit of INR 4.21 billion for the reporting quarter, up 1.4% on year. 

Shares of Federal Bank rose 4% intraday after the bank released its Oct-Dec results. The bank reported a net profit of INR 10.41 billion, surpassing the Street's view of INR 10.07 billion. The stock was up 10% and was the top gainer among the Nifty 200 constituents. LTIMindtree was among the top gainers in the Nifty 200 index, up over 5%. The stock rose after the company said that it received orders worth INR 30 billion from the Central Board of Direct Taxes to build an artificial intelligence-powered programme for modernisation of India's national tax analytics platform. 

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT was the top gainer, up over 3%. Gains in the stock of Infosys supported the sectoral index. Nifty Pharma was the worst hit among the indices, down nearly 1%.

Hitachi Energy India was the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index, down over 4%. IFCI was the top gainer among the Nifty 500 constituents, up 12%, and HBL Engineering was the worst hit, down over 9%.  (Adhithya Aji)

Equity Alert: Reliance Ind up ahead of Oct-Dec results; PAT seen up 6% YoY

MUMBAI--1235 IST--Shares of Reliance Industries were trading higher ahead of its December quarter earnings, due later in the day. The shares of the company rose over 1% to an intraday high of INR 1,480. The company is expected to report an over 6% on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at nearly INR 197 billion for the December quarter and its consolidated top line is estimated to rise 5% on year to INR 2.5 trillion for the quarter. Analysts expect the company's telecommunications segment to earn an operating profit higher than even that of the core oil-to-chemicals segment, led by net addition in subscribers and a jump in average revenue per user. Its oil-to-chemicals segment is expected to report sizeable growth on account of higher refining margins. However, the company's upstream oil business is expected to remain as weak as it was in the September quarter. 

The oil-to-chemicals business that accounted for a little over 62% of the company's overall revenue in the September quarter is expected to see robust gains in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the December quarter. A surge in petrol and diesel cracks are expected to be the key driver for EBITDA growth, according to brokerages. In the December quarter last year, the segment had reported an EBITDA of INR 144 billion and a little over INR 150 billion for the September quarter. 

The EBITDA of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecommunications subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is expected to grow 14-17% on year and near 3% on quarter, according to analysts. The sequential growth is primarily driven by a modest increase in average revenue per user to INR 212.4 in the December quarter from INR 212 in the September quarter and INR 203.3 a year ago. The company could also stand to gain from a strong increase in end-of-period subscriber base, which is the final net count of subscribers at the close of the reporting period. The company added around 8.4 million new subscribers in the December quarter, data showed. For the December quarter in the previous year, the segment's EBITDA was at nearly INR 166 billion.

The EBITDA for the company's retail segment, which accounted for 35% of the company's top line for the September quarter, is expected to rise at a modest rate of 3–4% on year to INR 68 billion. The modest growth is attributed to a split festival season between September and December quarters compared to the December quarter last year. The positive impact of the cut in the goods and services tax in September also took time to settle, with the segment seeing a drop in product prices. The segment's EBITDA for both the year-ago December quarter and the September quarter was over INR 68 billion. 

At 1218 IST, shares of the company traded nearly 1% higher at INR 1,469.70 on the National Stock Exchange. Over 9 million shares of the company exchanged hands on the bourse so far during the session, higher than over 3 million shares traded on the bourse at the same time Wednesday. All 12 research reports on the company available with Informist have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 1,693.  (Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: Infosys near 1-mo high; analysts positive on FY27 outlook

MUMBAI--1150 IST--Infosys rose 5.5% to a near-one month high of INR 1,687.50 and was the top gainer among the Nifty 50 constituents. Most brokerages retained their respective 'buy' rating on the stock and kept their target prices unchanged. They are bullish on the company's positive outlook for the coming financial year and see raise in guidance worthwhile. Brokerages also acknowledged that the company posted better results for the quarter under review despite a seasonally weak quarter led by ramp of NHS deal, accelerating demand in artificial intelligence segment and pricing led growth. However, brokerages see the company's margins to be rangebound in the near-term.

Brokerages are positive on the management's comments regarding the outlook for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). The management said the growth in FY27 will accelerate, driven by large deal ramp-ups and pick-up in discretionary spend in banking, financial services, and insurance vertical and energy, utilities, resources, and services verticals. The management said the company continued market share gains despite strength in pricing and incremental headcount addition is anticipation of growth. Motilal Oswal Financial Services and JM Financial raised their respective FY27 earnings estimates for Infosys post this.  

Infosys is well placed to benefit from enterprise-wide aritificial intelligence spending, given its discretionary heavy mix, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, who retained its 'buy' call on the stock, said. At the current valuations, upside risks meaningfully outweigh downside risks, it said. It has a target price of INR 2,200, implying a 37% upside from spot. At 1148 IST, the company's shares were at INR 1,686.60, up 5.4%. Around 11 million shares of the company were traded so far Friday, sharply higher than nearly 3 million shares traded till the same time Wednesday.  (Gopika Balasubramanium)

Equity Alert: Indices rise further on more gains in fincl svcs cos, bks shrs

MUMBAI--1115 IST--Benchmark indices rose further after a rise in shares of banks, financial services, and some automobile companies. Select index heavyweights trimmed their losses, while others extended their gains. Information technology majors continued to be the biggest gainers in the Nifty 50.

At 1118 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25811.10 points, up 145.50 points, or 0.6%. The 50-stock index was unable to decisively breach the immediate resistance level of 25850 seen by technical analysts. The BSE Sensex was at 83910.25 points, up 527.54 points, or 0.6%. Infosys was the top gainer among Nifty 50 companies and was up over 5%. Shares of information technology majors Tech Mahindra and Wipro were trading 2-4% higher ahead of their December quarter earnings, scheduled later in the day. Meanwhile, Cipla and Eternal were down around 2% each and were the worst hit. Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles rose around 2% each.

Shares of Shriram Finance were up over 3% and other financial services companies such as Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, SBI Life Insurance Co. were up around 1% each. Index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were up around 1% each. Shares of Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were off the day's lows, but still traded 0.7% and 0.3% lower, respectively. State Bank of India rose to its intraday high and was up 1.5%.

The Nifty IT index was up nearly 3%, while Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare were the worst hit sectoral indices, down 0.4% each. 

Among other stocks, HBL Engineering Ltd. was down almost 9%. The company disclosed that it failed to secure a large Kavach tender for locomotive safety systems, weighing on investor sentiment, according to a CNBC-TV18 report. The company said the total Kavach locomotive demand that was already visible for the current year has reduced to 12,129 units from 18,429 units earlier, following the outcome of the tender, according to an exchange filing by the company.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: 360 ONE WAM rise 8% after co's Q3 revenue surge 51% YoY

MUMBAI--1120 IST--Shares of 360 ONE WAM rose nearly 8% to an over six-month high of INR 1,236.20 after the asset management company reported a 51%

on-year surge in its revenue for the December quarter. This is the highest growth in the company's top line in five quarters. 

At 1107 IST, shares of the company traded over 4% higher at INR 1,196.60. Over 2 million shares of the company were traded so far, which is over 16 times higher than the number of shares traded till the same time Wednesday. The stock was up for three consecutive sessions and gained over 9% during the period.

The company reported a 6% on-year growth in its assets under management to INR 7.11 trillion. The annual recurring revenue AUM was at INR 3.18 trillion and transactional or brokerage AUM was at INR 3.93 trillion. 

The company has a strong product pipeline and plans to launch a new fund in each three to four quarters, JM Financial said in a report. The brokerage estimates the company's profit after tax to almost double over 2024–25 (Apr-Mar) to FY28, generating an earnings-per-share at a compound annual growth rate of 19% over FY26 to FY28.

The three brokerage reports available on the company with Informist have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock.  (Adhithya Aji)

Equity Alert: Cipla dn 5% after supply partner pauses Lanreotide production

MUMBAI--1115 IST--Shares of Cipla fell nearly 5% to an intraday low of INR 1,367.20 Friday. This comes after production of one of the company's key drugs, Lanreotide injection, was paused by its supply partner Pharmathen International. Pharmathen is currently engaged in the remediation process of its plant at Rodopi in Greece after the US Food and Drug Administration issued a Form 483 to the unit with nine observations. The US regulator inspected Pharmathen's Rodopi unit from Nov. 10-Nov. 21.

The supply of Lanreotide is expected to resume in the first half of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). Pharmathen is the manufacturer and exclusive supplier of Lanreotide injections to Cipla USA. This product is among the company's top three products in the US market.

Nuvama Institutional Equities expects the pause in production of the Lanreotide drug, more competition in the US market for its generic Advair drug, and the expiry of its exclusivity for the generic Revlimid to pose an earnings risk for Cipla in FY27. The brokerage says the remediation efforts could take long as the nature of the observations in Form 483 are severe, according to its report. The disruption in Cipla's Lanreotide supply chain is expected to create a risk for the company's US generics portfolio. US-based Amneal Pharmaceuticals is expected to launch Lanreotide in the US in the March quarter.

Meanwhile, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries are also awaiting approval for the drug. This could mean that Cipla may not be able to completely recover its Lanreotide market share, the brokerage said. Nuvama has downgraded its rating on Cipla to 'reduce' from 'hold' and cut the stock's target price almost 21% to INR 1,360 from INR 1,715 earlier. The brokerage also cut its FY27 earnings per share estimate for the company by 11%.

At 1112 IST, shares of Cipla traded over 2% lower at INR 1,405.30 on the National Stock Exchange. Nearly 2.5 million shares of the company have traded on the bourse so far during the session, over five times higher than the number of shares traded Wednesday. Shares of the company were trading lower Friday for the fourth consecutive session, losing nearly 7% during the period.

Of the 11 brokerage reports on the company available with Informist, six have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 1,714. Of the remaining five brokerages, three have a 'sell' and two have a 'hold' recommendation on the stock.  (Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: Tech Mahindra, Wipro rise 4% ahead of Oct-Dec earnings

MUMBAI--1040 IST--Shares of information technology companies Tech Mahindra and Wipro were trading higher on Friday ahead of their December quarter earnings, scheduled later in the day. Shares of Tech Mahindra rose nearly 4% to notch over a six-month high of INR 1,649.90 and those of Wipro rose nearly 4% to an intraday high of INR 269.80.

Tech Mahindra's consolidated net sales are expected to rise 1.2% sequentially and 6.6% on year to INR 141.68 billion for the December quarter, on a recovery in its communications vertical, which accounts for a third of the company's total revenue. Its consolidated bottom line for the latest quarter is estimated to rise almost 16% on quarter and over 40% on year to INR 13.81 billion. Operational efficiencies through Project Fortius and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar are likely to aid the double-digit sequential rise in the company's net profit.

At 1007 IST, shares of Tech Mahindra were over 2% higher at INR 1,625 on NSE. So far, almost 694,000 shares of the company have changed hands on the exchange, higher than nearly 86,000 shares traded till the same time Wednesday.

Of the 16 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company, nine have a 'buy' recommendation with an average target price of INR 1,730. Four have a 'sell' recommendation with an average target price of INR 1,448, and the remaining three have a 'hold' recommendation with target price at INR 1,490-INR 1,674.

Wipro is expected to report an over 3% sequential rise and an around 5% on-year rise in its consolidated revenue to INR 233.88 billion, with the ramping up of deals won in the first half of the current financial year and consolidation of its recent acquisition of the digital transformation solutions business unit of HARMAN International. The company's consolidated net profit for the December quarter is expected to rise over 3% sequentially to INR 33.49 billion, which is also expected to recover in the reporting quarter after declining sequentially for the past two quarters.

At 1012 IST, shares of Wipro were trading over 3% higher at INR 268.70 on NSE. So far, over 4 million shares of the company have changed hands on the exchange, higher than over 965,000 shares traded till the same time Wednesday. 

Of the 13 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company, six have a 'hold' recommendation with an average target price of INR 270. Four have a 'sell' recommendation with an average target price of INR 250 and the remaining three have a 'buy' recommendation with target price at INR 280-INR 290.  (Arundathi A R)

Equity Alert: Mkts rise more as IT cos extend gains, pharma cos come off lows

MUMBAI--1016 IST--Benchmark indices continued to rise on the back of steady gains in shares of information technology companies. Shares of select financial services companies and private banks rose in early trade, lending support to the Nifty 50 index. Healthcare-related stocks were among the worst hit in the session so far, but were off the day's lows.

At 1007 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25757.30 points, up 91.70 points or 0.4%. The BSE Sensex was at 83764.02 points, up 381.31 points or 0.5%. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies were among the best performing constituents of the 50-stock index and were up 1-5%. Shares of another IT major, Wipro, were up over 3% ahead of its December quarter earnings. The company's consolidated net profit for the December quarter is expected to rise over 3% sequentially to INR 33.49 billion, according to the average of estimates from 17 brokerages. This follows an over 2% and 7% sequential decline in the bottom line reported by the company in the previous two quarters, respectively.

Shares of Eternal fell almost 3%. Shares of index heavyweight ICICI Bank were down 0.6% and capped the gains. Bharti Airtel was 1.2% lower and was the biggest drag on the Nifty 50. Shares of HDFC Bank erased earlier losses and were up almost 1%, along with Reliance Industries, which rose 0.6% and supported the Nifty 50. Reliance Industries will detail its December quarter earnings later in the day. Reliance Industries is expected to report an over 5% rise in its consolidated net profit at nearly INR 197 billion, according to the average of estimates from 11 brokerages. The brokerages expect the private sector oil-to-chemicals-to-telecom behemoth's top line at INR 2.5 trillion for the December quarter, up over 6% on year

Shares of healthcare-related stocks were lower in the first hour of the session. The Nifty Pharma index and the Nifty Healthcare index were down almost 0.4%, after falling almost 1% earlier in the session. Pharmaceutical companies Cipla and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries were down around 2% each. Cipla was down 4% in the opening minutes Friday.

Among other stocks, shares of HDFC Asset Management Co. were up almost 5%. The company reported a 20% on-year growth in the net profit for the December quarter to INR 7.70 billion, beating the Street's estimate for the third quarter in a row. The net profit growth was because of a strong growth in assets under management and a rise in service fee income.  (Eshtiva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Indices open higher as IT majors rise; select heavyweights down

MUMBAI--0956 IST--Domestic benchmark equity indices opened higher Friday, led primarily by a rise in information technology stocks. A fall in shares of select index heavyweights was a major drag on the Nifty 50. Shares of select asset management companies were up after posting better-than-expected earnings results.

At 0940 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25709 points, up 43.40 points or 0.2%. The BSE Sensex was at 83600.39 points, up 217.68 points or 0.3%. Infosys was the best performing stock in the opening minutes of trade and was up nearly 5%. The company upgraded its revenue growth guidance for 2025–26 (Apr-Mar) in constant currency terms to 3.0-3.5% from 2.0-3% earlier. The company's guidance upgrade implies a 5.4% on-year constant currency revenue growth in the March quarter, brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a research report. Other information technology stocks such as Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies rose 1–3%. The Nifty IT index was nearly 3% higher and all of its constituents traded in the green. 

A 0.5% drop in shares of index heavyweights ICICI Bank and a 1.5% fall in Bharti Airtel was the biggest drag on the Nifty 50. Reliance Industries, which traded in the green, lent some support. 

Shares of Cipla fell over 3% after the company said production of one of the company's key drugs, Lanreotide, will be paused as its supply partner Pharmathen International is currently engaged in the remediation process of its plant at Rodopi in Greece. Global brokerage Nuvama has reduced its rating on the stock to 'reduce' from 'hold' and cut its target price by 21%. Other healthcare-related stocks such as Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, and Max Healthcare Institute were in the red.
 

Among the Nifty 200 stocks, 360 ONE WAM rose over 6% after the company reported a 51% on-year rise in its consolidated revenue and an 18% on-year increase in its bottom line. Shares of Oil India were down almost 3%, and the stock was among the worst hit members of the 200-stock index. 

Among other stocks, Zen Technologies rose almost 9% after the company said it received orders aggregating to INR 4.04 billion from the Ministry of Defence. These are to be executed within one year. HBL Engineering's shares were down nearly 11% and the stock was the worst hit among Nifty 500 index constituents.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Nirmal Bang ups Infosys to 'buy', raises target price by 11%

MUMBAI--0955 IST--Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities has upgraded Infosys to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised the target price by 11% to INR 1,864. The brokerage is optimistic due to the company's consistent strong performance in revenue growth for the past three quarters and strong growth visibility for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) with early shoots of discretionary spending in banking, financial services, and insurance segment and the Europe vertical. After the December quarter, the brokerage has left its revenue, earnings before interest and tax margin, and earnings per share estimates unchanged as it feels the large and mega deals will limit margin expansion. At 0954 IST, the company's shares were 4.6% higher at INR 1,674.70. 

The IT major reported its December quarter earnings during post market hours Wednesday. The company's net profit fell nearly 10% sequentially, missing the consensus estimate. The company saw the sharpest fall in its bottom line in six quarters after a one-time cost of INR 12.89 billion due to the new labour codes. Infosys' sales for Oct-Dec grew 2% on quarter, slowest in three quarters, even though it beat Street's view.

Infosys also revised its constant currency revenue growth guidance for FY26 to 3.0–3.5% from 2.0–3.0% earlier. Analysts had mixed expectations on the company's revenue growth guidance, with some estimating the IT major to retain guidance of 2.0–3.0%. Meanwhile, five brokerages had expected the company to revise the guidance.  (Gopika Balasubramanium)

Equity Alert: Nuvama downgrades Cipla to 'reduce', cuts target price by 21%

MUMBAI--0845 IST--Global brokerage firm Nuvama has reduced its rating on Cipla to 'reduce' from 'hold' and cut the stock's target price almost 21% to INR 1,360 from INR 1,715 earlier. Cipla's European contract manufacturing organisation partner, Pharmathen, has temporarily paused production of the Lanreotide drug for remediation efforts, and it may restart manufacturing in the first half of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). This supply disruption, along with more competition in generic Advair drug and the expiry of generic Revlimid exclusivity is expected to pose an earnings risk for the pharmaceutical company in FY27, the brokerage said in a research report. The brokerage also slashed its FY27 earnings per share estimate for Cipla by 11%.

Nuvama has cut its estimate for the company's Lanreotide revenue to $50 million from around $150 million for FY27 and $5 million from $35 million for the March quarter. Cipla's European partner received a Form-483 from the US Food and Drug Administration, highlighting compliance issues at its Rodopi facility, after which it paused production of drugs to support ongoing remediation efforts. The nature of the observations in Form-483 is severe, and remediation efforts could take longer, Nuvama said. Because of prolonged remediation and heightened regulatory scrutiny, manufacturing volumes of Lanreotide may fall and margins of the drug may also erode, according to the report.    

Cipla's Lanreotide supply chain is now vulnerable and this creates a risk for the company's US generics portfolio, the brokerage said. Additionally, US-listed Amneal is expecting to launch Lanreotide in the US in the March quarter. This, combined with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries' pending approval for the drug, may mean that Cipla is unable to recover its Lanreotide market share fully, the brokerage said. 

Generic Revlimid sales provided strong margin accretive benefits for the company, while the expiry of shared gRevlimid exclusivity would materially erode the margin performance of Cipla, according to Nuvama.

Cipla expects to launch generic Advair in the US post regulatory approval, but the US market for the drug is already very competitive, which could reduce Cipla's future opportunity, the brokerage said. Cipla is targeting final approval for drug by the March quarter, and a recent influx of competition could create price erosion and market share fragmentation before its entry, the report added. Moreover, Cipla's glucagon-like peptide-1 drug, Yurpeak, is performing below expectations, Nuvama said. "The recent entry of in-licensed Semaglutide by Emcure has also increased competition for branded GLP-1 in India," the brokerage said. It has cut Cipla's India revenue expectation for FY27 by 4% due to a weak glucagon-like peptide-1 performance.

On Wednesday, shares of the company ended nearly 1% lower at INR 1,434.50 on the National Stock Exchange.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Indices may open a tad higher; sell-on-rise approach expected

MUMBAI--0840 IST--Domestic benchmark indices are expected to open slightly higher Friday and investors are likely to go for sell-on-rise approach, analysts said. They expect volatility to continue due to the overhang of delayed discussions between India and the US regarding the trade deal. Market participants await corporate earnings of Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra and Wipro, due later in the day. 

GIFT Nifty contracts suggest a higher opening for the Nifty 50 index on Friday. At 0835 IST, the GIFT Nifty's January contract was at 25785.50 points, 120 points higher than the Nifty 50's close of 25665.60 points on Wednesday. The BSE Sensex had closed at 83382.71 points on Wednesday, down 244.98 points or 0.3%. The Nifty 50 is expected to find support at 25500 points and face resistance at 25800-25850 points, Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Group, said. Wednesday, foreign investors offloaded shares worth INR 47.81 billion. However, domestic investors continue to support the market, having invested continuosly for several weeks.   

Information technology behemoth Infosys' consolidated net profit for Oct-Dec fell nearly 10% sequentially to INR 66.54 billion, after a one-time cost of INR 12.89 billion due to the new labour codes, which came into effect on Nov. 21. Its consolidated revenue for the quarter rose a little over 2% sequentially, beating the Street's view. Infosys has revised its revenue growth guidance for 2025–26 (Apr-Mar) to 3.0–3.5% from 2.0–3.0% earlier. Infosys American Depositary Receipts closed 10% higher at $19.35 on Wednesday after the company reported its December quarter earnings. However, they fell around 3% to close at $18.82 on Thursday. 

Indices in the US ended higher Thursday after closing lower for two consecutive sessions. The gains were led by a rise in banking stocks and shares of chip-making companies. The jobless claims data for the week ended Jan. 10 came in at 198,000, which as lower than the 215,000 expected by a poll of economists from Dow Jones, CNBC said. Asian indices were mixed in early trade, with majority of them gaining.  (Arundathi A R)

Equity Alert: Most Asian indices higher; KOSPI hits fresh record high

MUMBAI--0816 IST--Most equity indices in Asia were trading higher with South Korea's KOSPI and a few others touching fresh record highs. The Topix index and the Nikkei were trading lower. Shares of chipmaking companies in the region rose as investors eye a potential trade deal between the US and Taiwan.

The two countries reached a trade agreement, under which the companies in Taiwan will invest $250 billion towards production capacity in the US to build chips and chip-making factories, with the Taiwanese government guaranteeing $250 billion credit for the companies. In return, the US will limit its reciprocal tariffs on Taiwan to 15% against the earlier 20% and commit to zero reciprocal tariffs on generic pharmaceuticals, their ingredients, aircraft components and some natural resources, according to a report from CNBC. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. were up 2% during the session. The rise came as the company delivered another record quarter and said it expects to boost capital expenditure in 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion.

Japan's Nikkei index was trading lower. Shares of Softbank group were up 0.4%. The group has investments in shares of chip-making companies and a stake in chip design company Arm Holdings, CNBC said. In South Korea, shares of heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co. were up over 3% and those of its peer SK Hynix were up nearly 1%. 

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0813 IST:

(Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: US indices end higher after 2 sessions of decline; bk shrs up

MUMBAI--0735 IST--Equity indices in the US ended higher Thursday after two consecutive sessions of declines. The gains were led by a rise in banking stocks, as they kicked off the earnings season, as well as shares of chip-making companies. Further, the latest economic data pointed towards a strong jobs market.

Shares of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley rose nearly 5% and 6%, respectively, after they reported a rise in quarterly profits due to a flurry of dealmaking, according to a report from Reuters. Mixed results from other banks weighed on the sector earlier this week, along with tensions over US President Donald Trump's call for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%. Shares of BlackRock gained nearly 6% after the surge in markets pushed the company's assets under management to a record $14.04 trillion. The financial management company earned $342 billion in total client cash for the quarter ended Dec. 31, according to a Bloomberg report.  

Shares of chipmaking companies rose after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a record quarter and said it expects to boost its capital expenditure in 2026 to around $52 billion-$56 billion. Shares of the company rose over 4%, CNBC reported. Shares of VanEck Semiconductor ETF and NVIDIA Corp. rose over 2% each. Results of the Taiwan-based chipmaker reassured investors that artificial intelligence is not necessarily a bubble currently, Kim Forrest, investment chief at Bokeh Capital Partners, was quoted as saying by CNBC. The Taiwan-based company is going to spend a lot of money to build out capacity, the investment chief added. 

The jobless claims data for the week ended Saturday came in at 198,000. This was lower than the 215,000 expected by a poll of economists from Dow Jones, CNBC said. The rebound in the indices comes after two sessions of fall where investors were concerned over the geopolitical tensions in Iran and Greenland along with the future of the US Federal Reserve and its independence after the criminal investigation into US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Investors are set to await earnings from more diversified companies next week, Reuters said. 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Thursday:  

(Akshat Saksena)

US$1 = INR 90.87

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Saji George Titus

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

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